Consumer group CHOICE has named the 2025 recipients of its ‘Shonky Awards’.
Each year, CHOICE names companies and products that have misled customers or failed to live up to expectations.
This year, Commonwealth Bank, Temu, and HCF were among the recipients.
Commonwealth Bank
In July, Australia’s financial watchdog found some of the country’s biggest banks had been charging low-income customers unnecessary fees. While other banks agreed to refund those customers, Commonwealth Bank did not.
CHOICE said this amounted to the company “making bank off Australia’s poorest”. CHOICE’s head of policy Morgan Campbell said: “A few weeks after refusing to pay $270 million in refunds, CommBank celebrated a $10 billion dollar annual profit.”
In response to recieving the Shonky award, Commonwealth Bank said it was “making goodwill adjustments... to customers who have incurred unusually high fees.”
It also said it had paused some fees for certain customers, and had already paid $25 million to 87,000 people following a previous ASIC investigation.
Temu
CHOICE gave Temu a Shonky award for several reasons, including its contribution to fast fashion and its products that allegedly fail to meet consumers’ expectations.
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A CHOICE investigation last year also found that every one of the 15 battery-operated products it tested from Temu failed safety standards.
Temu told TDA that safety is “a top priority”.
It said it had removed all of the items listed by CHOICE from sale, and that it had “since further strengthened oversight in higher-risk categories” of products.
Temu said it had millions of Australian customers, “and the vast majority report positive experiences.”
HCF
CHOICE accused health insurer HCF of “insurance phoenixing” — forcing new members to buy nearly-identical policies to existing members at a much higher price point.
Specifically, CHOICE alleged HCF stopped allowing new members to access its ‘Premium Gold’ policy, instead offering a new policy called ‘Optimal Gold’ that was 34% more expensive. CHOICE said the two policies were effectively the same.
In a statement to TDA, an HCF spokesperson said the new prices “reflect broader sector pressures, driven by higher costs from complex claims”.
The spokesperson said HCF sought to keep these policies “accessible, equitable, and sustainable,” and that it would adapt to any future legal changes.
